Mr. Trump had the authority to declare two emergencies. But they also happened to advance his favorite targets: more fossil fuels and less immigration.
President Trump’s return to the Oval Office came with emergency declarations for the country’s energy sector and the southern border, unleashing broad powers for situations that — in these cases — are hardly in crisis.
On his first day in office, Mr. Trump declared the country’s first ever national energy emergency, arguing that “The United States’ insufficient energy production, transportation, refining, and generation constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to our nation’s economy, national security, and foreign policy.”
But by any economic measure, the United States is not facing an energy emergency, experts said. America is the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas, and the price of oil, about $76 per barrel, is roughly the same as the average cost over the past 20 years, adjusted for inflation. The cost of gasoline, about $3.13 per gallon, is close to a three-year low.
And the situation on the southern border is relatively calm as well, especially compared with the first few years of the Biden administration. During that time, the number of illegal crossings reached historic highs, giving way to scenes of chaos, disorder and overwhelmed border officials. Not today.
Even so, Mr. Trump wrote in the executive order that the southern border “is overrun by cartels, criminal gangs, known terrorists, human traffickers, smugglers, unvetted military-age males from foreign adversaries, and illicit narcotics that harm Americans, including America.”
Mr. Trump has the authority to declare national emergencies. However, both declarations happen to also advance some of Mr. Trump’s favorite topics: producing more fossil fuels and restricting immigration.